Some of the biggest gun retailers in the US have suspended sales of firearms in stores in the wake of the Sandy Hook Nassacre in Newtown, Connecticut, last Friday.

The Dick’s Sporting Goods chain has suspended “all modern rifle sales nationwide,” the company said in a statement.

A statement read that the move was taken “out of respect for the victims and their families.” Sandy hook shooter Adam Lanza used an AR-15 Bushmaster rifle to kill 26 people including 20 young children.

According to the LA Times, last month Dick’s Chief Executive Edward Stack commented that guns sales had “spiked” since November’s Presidential election.

The Dick’s at the Danbury Mall, about 13 miles from Sandy Hook Elementary, has removed all guns from their display.

Stack added at the time:

We expect that the gun and ammunition business will move to be a slightly bigger part of our business going forward and that will help the earnings,”

The store has 14 locations in Connecticut.

The Wall Street Journal reported yesterday that Wal-Mart had disabled the information page on their website for the Patrolman’s Carbine M4A3 rifle.